FBI director fires staff assigned to work on Trump investigation

FBI Director Kash Patel has fired additional special agents who were assigned to investigate Donald Trump, as a campaign of retribution against civil servants linked to past investigations continues under Trump’s second term.

At least 10 FBI agents who had worked with former Special Counsel Jack Smith on investigations into Trump were dismissed, according to media reports on Wednesday. The names of the fired agents were not disclosed for privacy reasons.

The latest firings came after Reuters reported that the FBI, during the Biden administration, had subpoenaed phone records belonging to Patel and current White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles in 2022 and 2023, when both were private citizens. The subpoenas were part of the federal probe into Trump’s retention of classified documents after leaving the White House in 2021.

Patel condemned the subpoenas, calling them “outrageous and deeply alarming.”

“It is outrageous and deeply alarming that the previous FBI leadership secretly subpoenaed my own phone records — along with those of now White House chief of staff Susie Wiles — using flimsy pretexts and burying the entire process in prohibited case files designed to evade all oversight,” he said.

Department of Justice withholds, removes Epstein files that reference Trump: Probe

Probe shows the US Justice Department has withheld and removed portions of Epstein files, which reference President Donald Trump.

The FBI Agents Association (FBIAA) slammed Patel for firing the Bureau's staffers recruited by the federal government to protect the nation. “The FBIAA condemns today’s unlawful termination of FBI Special Agents, which—like other firings by Director Patel—violates the due process rights of those who risk their lives to protect our country.”

“These actions weaken the Bureau by stripping away critical expertise and destabilizing the workforce, undermining trust in leadership and jeopardizing the Bureau’s ability to meet its recruitment goals—ultimately putting the nation at greater risk.”

Patel, a Trump appointee, has overseen the removal of dozens of FBI employees who either contributed to investigations involving Trump or were perceived as not aligned with the administration’s agenda.

Since Trump returned to office last year, prosecutors in the Justice Department who had worked on his criminal cases have also been dismissed.

Trump had been indicted on multiple charges and was facing trials in several courts before his reelection. Following his November 2024 victory, the cases were abandoned under longstanding Justice Department policy barring the indictment of a sitting president.

Separately, Trump and his sons last month filed a lawsuit seeking $10 billion in damages over leaks of their business and personal tax records. The suit accuses the IRS and Treasury Department of failing to safeguard confidential information disclosed by a former contractor, Charles “Chaz” Littlejohn, who is serving a five-year prison sentence for leaking the data to U.S. media outlets.

The disclosures included a 2020 New York Times report showing Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes in the year he won the presidency and paid no income taxes in 10 of the previous 15 years—findings that reinforced longstanding questions about the tax practices of a president who has repeatedly described tax avoidance as “smart.”

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk